Felt hat



E. M, LE-BKICHER.

Pelt Hats.

No. 231,062. Patented Aug. 10

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

EDWIN M. LEBKIOHER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

F E LT H AT.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 231,062, dated August10, 1880.

' Application filed January 21, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN M. LEBKIOHER, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Felt Hats; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference beinghad to the annexed drawings, making part hereof.

The nature of my invention willfully appear from the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of my stiffened lining;Fig. 2, a vertical sectional view of my hat after the rim is stiffcued,showing the soft body; Fig. 3, a similar view of my finished hat, theheavy black line around the inside of the crown or body representing thestiffened lining stuck or adhering to the crown.

A is the inside lining, of gossamer or other suitable material,stiffened with shellac or other desirable stiffening agent. B representsthe felt rim, stiffened with shellac, and forming part of the soft crown0, being in one piece therewith.

I make my lining A as follows: The gossamer is stiffened in sheets ofvarious sizes by being dipped in shellac and varnished with the sameupon one side or face. Ne call this varnish seed-lac varnish. It is madefrom shellac. I then take a block of the same shape as the crown of thehat which I propose to line and cover it with what is known tohat-manufacturers as a felt stocking, then, cutting some strips orpieces of gossamer from the sheet, I press them around and over thisblock with a hot finishing-iron. I prefer to use two pieces of gossamer,one to pass around the sides of the block and one for the crown proper.The action of the hot iron is to soften the shellac and to unite theedges of the gossamer pieces together, the shellac being sticky in asoft state, and also to conform the whole to the shape of the block. Thelining thus formed is allowed to cool. The varnished side of thegossamer is kept on the outside. When cool it is hard and in conditionto receive its felt covering. I then take a hat-body of felt, the rim ofwhich has been stiffened with shellac in the usual way, the body orcrown to be lined being soft, and draw the crown down over the lining asit rests upon the block. After drawing it down tightly I take a hotfinishing-iron and carefully iron over the whole surface of the crown orbody, top, and sides. This makes the body of felt even and smooth andsoftens the shellac in the lining and the varnish thereon, and thelatter sticks to the inner surface of the felt and makes it adhere tothe lining. The felt rim is then ironed up with a hot iron and shaped.The lower edges of the lining are trimmed off evenly, and the hat isready to be trimmed.

As, through my invention, it is not necessary to charge the body of thehat to stiffen it, there is no possibility of the shellac going throughand destroying the color of the h at, or in anywise affecting it, andthe body is not so liable to break. If it should break it can be quicklyand easily ironed into shape again in the same manner as a silk hat.

I can use one or more pieces of gossamer in shaping my lining, or it maybe of several thicknesses where great stiffness and strength aredesired. Thin felt may be stiffened and used in place of the gossamerlining, or muslin or other suitable substance may be used.

I am well aware that pull-overs have been heretofore used having agossamer-stiffened rim and crown or body; but such a rim is too stiffand unyielding for comfort in wearing, stiffened felt being much moreaccommodating to the head; and I do not claim the pull-over as myinvention.

The felt body may be pulled down over the lining closely and not stuckthereto, and in this case I make my lining of several layers of gossamerto secure stiffness.

I am aware of the Letters Patent of the United States heretoforegranted, No. 219,257, dated September 2, 1879, and I do not claimanything described in the same, the object of my invention being tosupport a soft felt crown by means of a hard and stiff lining, which inevery case conforms to the exact shape of the felt crown, and is only somuch smaller than the crown as to fit snugly within the same. My firstclause of claim, as will be hereinafter seen, is intended to cover sucha construction when the said lining is stuck to the felt crown,

and the second when the crown is pulled down closely over it, whetherpasted to it or not.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, a felt hat composed of thecombination of a felt rim stiffened with shellac, or its equivalent, asoft felt crown or body in one piece with the rim, 10 and an innercontained stiffened lining to the body to which the latter is stuck, thesaid lining conforming to the shape of and touching the inside of thefelt crown in every part, whereby the soft felt body is retained inshape, 15 substantially as described.

EDWIN M. LEBKIOHER.

Witnesses GEO. E. BUCKLEY, WM. H. CARSON.

